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Shanahan is rooting for Devin Thomas

By
Jason Reid

Coach Mike Shanahan said he is rooting for Devin Thomas, the wide receiver he cut in January who has been picked up by the New York Giants. Shanahan said the two spoke Sunday after the Redskins loss to New York.

"I got a chance to talk to [Devin] after the game," Shanahan said. "He was nice enough to wait for me. I was one of the last ones to leave, and I had a great conversation with [Devin]. I told him I was really rooting for him, because I really like him as a person.

"We had a great conversation. It was very thoughtful. I was very proud of the way he handled himself, both on the field and off. The way he played, and the way he handled himself afterward, you can tell that he's a guy that's growing up and I think is headed in the right direction."

Thomas, a former top draft pick of the Skins, made his mark on special teams in the Giants' 31-7 rout at New Meadowlands Stadium.

The third-year wide receiver delivered a big hit on Terrence Austin during a first-quarter kickoff return. On punt coverage in the second quarter, Thomas raced downfield and downed the ball on Washington's 5-yard line. During a Redskins punt return in the fourth, Thomas shoved returner Brandon Banks out of bounds at the Redskins' 14-yard line. But the biggest play for Thomas was a punt he partially blocked in the fourth quarter.

Number of issues with coach just calling season a loss and starting down this path you're suggesting. To name a few. Lose ability to seriously evaluate what you have. Can't expect effort out of players.

There's something either admirable or pathetic about Devin Thomas hanging around the visitors' locker room waiting for Shanahan in order to have this conversation.

I'm going with pathetic. Especially given that the first thing we heard about this was Devin saying he tried to find Shanahan on the field but (I'm paraphrasing Devin) "he ran off so fast I couldn't find him."

I'll never understand the attitude of some here at RI that every single player needs to summarily dumped the day after the season ends. As bad as it's been this year and last, there are a few building blocks, Landry potentially being one of them, and a few good "stop-gap" guys who could keep helping for a year or two at the right price until better, younger players are brought in (CP, Jammal Brown, 'Tana, in my opinion, for example). Given the right cuts, the right additions, and the coaches being willing to fit the adapt the scheme to make the most use out of the players' various talents (which for the most part has not happened this year), this thing could be turned around in another season or two. At least, I hope so.

I'm not one of those who usually obsesses over cut players, but this kid DT still intrigues me for some reason. It was impossible not to see his athleticism on those special teams plays. Whether that means he'll ever become a productive wide, who knows?

Most likely won't happen with the Midgets. They'll have to cut someone when Nicks and Smith come back.

So it's good to IR a marginal guy you don't want to cut at the beginning of the season, but you resist IR'ing one of your best players at the end of a losing season when he's flirting with an injury that normally takes over a year to heal?

He kept calling him Derek, probably some demented mind game. Not that I care at this point.

Posted by: AdamCr | December 6, 2010 5:20 PM |

Yeah. Must be a mind game. I mean, it SURE couldn't be that Shanahan is a fraud. I mean, if that were the case, we'd stink by now. And things wouldn't get better.

Hey, Phillip Daniels says Shanahan is a proven winner because he had front row seats at John Elway's two Super Bowl victories, so, I mean, if HE says so, it must be true.

You people... Shanahan is NOT a genius. His screw ups are NOT actually genius in disguise. The least the old stick in the mud could do was remember the guys name... especially since he claims to be rooting for him. I mean, who forgets the name of somebody you're rooting for, who you just cut for mysterious reasons, who just took a dump on your human resources skills?

I knew Thomas could play. You all should, too, because when he's played, he's played well. We've all seen it. Shanahan just made a(nother) mistake, that's all.

Just another player that we got rid of that will prove to be a contributor for some team, in this case a hated rival. I understand that Devin has probably gone through some adversity the past few months with being cut twice and that has led to his maturing. There definitely seems to be a failure in the motivation and development department with this organization.

JReid, why did you change the quote to read Devin instead of Derrick. I listened to the presser live and it struck me as an obvious and intentional insult to Thomas by Shanahan by calling him the wrong name. He enunciated the name "Derrick" very clearly and did it TWICE! I'm no Devin Thomas fan but to pretend like you don't know the guys name just because he had a good game against you is transparent and disrespectful. The first the I said to myself when I heard it is "Shanahan is such an A$$!"

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